Kamu, Okko (1946– )

Finnish conductor and violinist. He made his debut as a violinist before his teens and was leader of Finnish National Opera Orchestra 1966–68. He won the first Karajan International Competition in 1969, making his London debut the following year. Posts have included that of chief conductor of the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra (1979–90) and principal of the Sjaelland (Denmark) Symphony Orchestra (from 1988). He led both the premiere of Aulis Sallinen's The Red Line in 1978 and its first performance at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York in 1983, and in 1987 conducted the first British performance of Sallinen's The King goes forth to France at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London.